It was another good old hole in the wall, but I’m surprised it’s actually not as highly praised as the other sandwiches I mentioned in the other cities. It’s not as hyped or “world famous” and it’s not the first to come to mind when you think of “must try food in Chicago”. Chicago just seems to be about must try restaurants more so than must try food.

It is generally well liked by locals, but it doesn’t seem as loved and reviews aren’t as high as I expected for a place like this. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a franchise, but I was happy that I tried it and I liked it! It didn’t seem like there was much competition for Italian beef and it wasn’t nearly as popular as Chicago hot dogs and pizzas, but it is considered part of their food culture.

It was located in Little Italy, which was very little and actually a bit underwhelming. I thought Italians did everything bigger? Perhaps I missed a certain area, but there wasn’t much happening except for this and Mario’s Italian Lemonade across the street. Mario’s Italian Lemonade was the actual reason for visiting Little Italy, but Al’s #1 Italian Beef was conveniently located across the street so it was killing two birds with one stone.

Al’s #1 Italian Beef offers a range of fast food menu items from subs, salads, hot dogs and fries, but I honestly think people come here just for the beef sandwich and perhaps hand cut fries.

I was watching them prepare the sandwiches which was already an indulgent experience. I could see the slices of Italian beef swimming in a pool of oily sauce, and then next to that was a bath tub of pure beef gravy. After stuffing the sandwiches full of beef they would take the whole sub and quickly dip the entire sandwich into the tub of jus.

Holy crap. I’ve never seen that done before, however they only do it upon request. Apparently it can get really soggy (obviously) and salty so I just opted out of the idea. I don’t think it’s how it’s traditionally meant to be eaten either, but who knows? When I’m old with no teeth maybe dipping the whole sub will be the only way I can actually eat this.

On the table:

**Al’s #1 Italian Beef Sandwich – 5/6 (Excellent)

$5.95 (6 inch) + hot or sweet pepper for $.40

It was a pretty hearty and big sandwich and it was served nice and hot.

I highly recommend adding the Italian giardiniera which is a spicy pickled salad made with pickles, celery and hot peppers.

4 Comments

Everyone I know from Chicago eats it dipped with provolone & giardiniera, but they’re all from the southside, so it might be a regional way of fixing it. Their cheese fries are also ridiculously good, with Merkt’s cheese sauce.

@Karen @Jerry – Damnit!! They didn’t even suggest Provolone as an option!I would have added that! And cheese fries?! I didn’t know that either! I tried researching what to order and following what everyone else was ordering, but looks like I missed out on a few things! I’ll have to re-do it.

@Jerry – LOL! I just had goat tacos and Pizano’s! And Italian Ice after! If I knew about the fries I would have ordered them, and had at least a few… I actually unintentionally took a nap in the taxi from being in food coma. Luckily your taxis are so much cheaper than Vancouvers!

Travel and food. Two of my favourite things on the planet. I’ve been researching food festivals for the last couple weeks, and now next to my bucket list of restaurants, I have a bucket list of food festivals. It’s hard to narrow down, but here are four I’ve put as priority.